One might like to describe this album as ‘experimental music’ as indeed it is in more ways than one. The band really do seem to have taken a ramble through some very tough countryside, soundscapes in which the commonplace identities of the musical instruments have been lost. That is not to say that the apparent loss is detrimental: the wind instruments remain, as always, the sources of sound though differing from the conventional in form, contour and mass.The same is true of the percussive elements, arising from bass and drums. These seem at times not to be an undercurrent of rhythm to the wind section, nor even a responsive drone drifting above it; rather do they run in parallel, rising and falling along a path of their own, though not in dissociation. This is seen most clearly perhaps in the final track, ‘Ramble On’, a bit of a three-legged contest through brambles. A longish soliloquy from the bass seems quite hesitant, though I think that’s because as much weight is being given to the silences between notes as to the notes themselves. The horns return and the differentiation between the two streams is reinstated, as though the progress of the whole depends on the discrepancy.The entire album is a study in sound and the possible associations between diverse elements, as well as multiple variations effected upon those elements. It is a fascinating work and an excellent resource for anyone who wants to study advances in experimental music. It is also thoroughly enjoyable.Reviewed by Ken Cheetham

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